Even the Stars Die
by chasingafterstarlight
Summary: Because every star burns out sometime. / The NextGeneration. Every pairing, done a bunch of different ways. i: Dominique/Lorcan.


**Even the Stars Die**

_A NextGeneration collection_

_i. Dominique/Lorcan_

Her fingers drummed against the wood of the table. At last, she glanced up to meet his eyes. "Stop staring at me."

"I can assure you that I am not," he replied quickly, glancing back down at his paper and scrawling messy words to distract himself from _her_, from her intoxicating presence and her cascading blonde hair, from her sharp turquoise eyes. It would have been easier had it been her sister. Her sister was witty, she was intelligent, and she was also six years older. In contrast, Dominique was harsh, blunt, and annoying in every single imaginable way.

"I can assure you that I am _not_," Dominique repeated darkly, her eyes sparkling with venom. "Please, Scamander, you're checking me out."

He bent his head slightly, then leaned back in his chair. It was a wonder that she was even popular, he thought with a frown. Her good lucks were undeniable, but her personality was entirely appalling. He would've thought that she would have rebelled all of her (multiple) admirers by now. But no, the boys were everywhere, following her to class, offering to carry her books, smiling at her in the halls. Not that he cared. Why should he?

"I'm not a Muggle cashier, so I would do no such thing," he retorted, giving her a slight smile. Some people found him annoying, what with his arrogant, know-it-all attitude, but he obviously had nothing on Dominique Weasley.

"You know what I meant," she sung, dropping her book on the table loudly. "You think I'm hot."

"Please, Weasley," he said, mimicking her tone this time. "You're the coldest person I've ever met."

As he stood up, grabbing his handful of scrawled notes and his quill and storming off, he could've sworn he saw something like hurt in her eyes. But then again, maybe it was just his imagination.

/

"You look cold."

"Thanks, I h-had no id-idea," the blonde stuttered, wrapping her arms around her body as if it would somehow make her warmer.

He sighed, stepping closer to her. It was a cold December night, so he'd been snuggling in an armchair with a blanket draped over him. Though it wasn't exactly to his benefit, he stepped forward, pulling the blanket off of his body, and draped it around the soaking blonde. "You're welcome," he said sharply.

"T-thank you," Dominique mumbled, pulling the blanket around her and wiping the drops of water off of her.

"What made you think it was a good idea to go swimming in the midst of December, right before school's going to let out for Christmas holidays? It's _winter_, Dominique, hardly the time to be going swimming!" His face was angry, his cheeks red as he spoke harshly.

Dominique winced. "My friends dared me to. And you know me, I can't refuse a dare."

"Maybe you should learn to," he griped, wiping his forehead with one hand. "Seriously, Dominique. You're going to catch pneumonia one of these days, I swear it."

"And then one of the Healers will heal me," Dominique muttered. She strode over to sit on the couch, and he followed closely behind her. Glancing up at him, she asked stubbornly, "Aren't you going to ask why I'm here?"

"That's a good question. Why _are_ you here?" he asked, slightly puzzled. She had no reason to come to the Ravenclaw dormitory; the only Ravenclaws she really associated with were him, her sister (who had already graduated), and her young cousin Lucy, who was already tucked away in bed. He quirked an eyebrow at her silence.

At last she spoke. "I couldn't go to the Slytherin dorm. They would've laughed at me."

"What about Gryffindor? I mean, what about _Hufflepuff_? Hufflepuffs are known for being caring," he stated matter-of-factly.

Face tilted to the ground, Dominique informed him, "I wanted to see you."

A shock ran through his body – here was the girl he'd been bantering with for ages, the girl who annoyed him more than any other, freely admitting that she craved his company. And the worst part about it was that he honestly returned the sentiment.

"Did you?" he asked at last, not really sure of what to say (and from the boy who had previously thought that he knew everything, this was a tough situation).

"I enjoy our banter," she admitted with a shrug. "And I knew you wouldn't turn me away. Even you aren't that heartless."

He nodded silently, then came to his senses. Half of his mouth quirked up into a smile. "And if I turned you away now?"

"Then I would most likely go to Gryffindor or Hufflepuff and beg for a set of warm clothes and a place to sleep like a common beggar," Dominique replied, a sly smile on her face. "But you don't want me to, do you?"

He hesitated for a second, then raised an eyebrow. "No."

"That's what I thought," Dominique said, settling down on the couch at last. He quickly sat down beside her.

The rest of the night was spent in quiet banter, and when they fell asleep at last, she obviously snuggled into his shoulder. When he woke up, he glanced over at her, uncertain of whether to tell her to leave or to let her stay.

Stroking her hair silently and pulling the blanket over so it covered both of them, he silently decided to let her stay.

/

"Heard you spent the night with my cousin," was the first thing Lucy Weasley said to him as he sat down in the Great Hall the next day. Her eyes, usually so bright with innocence, had a hint of mischief to them today.

"We just slept," he said darkly, running a hand through his hair. "We're not dating."

"Didn't say you were," Lucy chirped innocently. "Do you like her?"

"Would it matter if I did, Lucille?" he retorted, his eyes flaming. "She despises me, and thus I will say the same of her."

"Doubt that," Lucy said, and when he spun around, he saw Dominique quickly approaching his table. Confidently, she sat down beside him, and Lucy just grinned. "I'll leave you alone to talk!"

There was evidently no talking to be done, though, because the moment Dominique sat down, she pressed her lips to his. It was awkward for a moment, but after that it was somewhat enjoyable – Dominique was, after all, a good kisser, due to her immense popularity. As soon as she pulled back, she grinned at him. "Now you're checking me out."

"D-dominique," he stuttered, staring at her with wide grey eyes.

"I just had to know," she muttered, glancing down at the ground. "And I was right."

"You had to know what?" he wondered, his eyes still wide.

"You're a Ravenclaw," she said brazenly, getting to her feet. "Figure it out."

It seemed, he thought as she walked away, that they were never going to stop playing these games. It also seemed that he didn't really mind.

/

He kissed her after class later that day, because he could, because he finally understood. She stared at him for a moment, but then her lips curved up into a smile. "About time, Lorcan."

Through all of this, it seemed that there was one thing Lorcan Scamander was wrong about. Dominique wasn't cold. She was so, so warm.

/

**A/N: it seems I cannot write NextGen BUT HERE I AM ANYWAY. I wrote this for a challenge on NGF where you have to write every NextGen pairing so I decided to start off with Dom/Lorcan which is really quite cute. I will try to update, and I take requests so yeah. Title credit to Pearl b/c ****perf. Anyway please review and don't favorite/alert without reviewing, thank you :D**


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